Ondine

2009 / Director. Neil Jordan.

All of the right boxes were ticked before I watched Ondine. I'm a fan of Neil Jordan as a director. I am in love with films set in maritime and I am a sucker for anything to do with celtic folklore, particularly the selke (half seal, half woman). It's always the type of fable that lends itself to beauty and romance and Ondine is a wonderful story. Colin Farrell stars as an everyday fisherman who pulls a woman from the ocean in his trawling nets. She is mysterious and allusive and when the fisherman's daughter suspects her to be a selke, it's then that her secret sea-life starts to unravel. Neil Jordan is an atmospheric filmmaker and being Irish, he knows how to shoot the landscapes beautifully. The water and land are important characters unto themselves and Jordan evokes a sincerity and believability from this fable by allowing the environment to set the tone. There are also a series of plot developments, which keep and momentum and curiosity factors high. I'm not a fan of Farrell's but he is understated and affective in this lead. The score to the film is gorgeous and the soundtrack heavily features haunting songs from artists such as Sigur Ros and Lisa Hannigan. It's one of Jordan's more understated films and it's a nice reprise from some of his heavier work. Nicely done.

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